The Taiwan Megathread 2.0: Vacations, Jobs, EarthquaJEREMYLINJEREMYLINJEREM

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sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

OrangeGuy posted:

Somehow, when I asked about the wage rate for English teaching a few months ago, I got the impression that 2200 USD per month was what is typical.

I can only presume you took an hourly wage rate and figured on a "real" work week, like 40 hours or whatever. Teaching hours are all different shades of messed up.

Also, Christ, if I were making NT$65,000 a month on the regular I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I'd actually be capable of accruing savings!

# ¿ Mar 5, 2012 06:26

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 22:29

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

RocknRollaAyatollah posted:

It should be noted as well that the Taiwan accent, which is like the Fujian accent, is awesome. I loved talking to people because they were always clear, reasonably paced, and had good pronunciation. It's almost like textbook Mandarin.

Although that depends immensely on which Taiwan accent - "educated" waishengren-style Taiwanese Mandarin, "lower class" Hokkien-influenced Taiwanese Mandarin, or (God help you) ancient people's Japanese- and Hokkien-influenced Taiwanese Mandarin. The first is really easy to get to grips with, the second can be tricky, and the third is either terrible or hilarious, depending on the person.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2012 10:30

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Holy poo poo y'all, I can understand the attraction of living alone or whatever, but god drat do some of you pay a lot of rent.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2012 20:43

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

HappyHelmet posted:

It's like this largish bubble of foreign white-guys who are desperately trying to bang as many Asian girls at possible. Except they never go anywhere except the same 1-2 bars. So they only meet the girls who go to those places. And the only girls that go to them (that don't already have boyfriends) are often slightly dysfunctional girls who are so convinced a white boyfriend is the solution to all of life's problems they end up sleeping with every other new face who walks through the door hoping that he isn't the fat alcoholic white rear end in a top hat he appears to be. Only to find that of course he is. And round and round they all go in some horribly depressing incestuous circle.

Oh hey, I see you've been to Carnegies then!

# ¿ Mar 7, 2012 07:06

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

OrangeGuy posted:

Alright, is there an alternative to Amazon, then?

If you can read Chinese, go through http://www.books.com.tw. If you just want to order for a Kindle or whatever, Amazon will work just fine. If you want to buy MP3s or do streaming video or anything, you're SOL and JWF. If you just want to buy your rear end some books, there are a few good bookstores in Taipei for English-language books and magazines, and if you want MP3s, iTunes is a no-go, but there are some local means (which I haven't used) and some pretty good music shops.

quote:

Also, are the things that this blogger complains about Hess true?: http://teachingenglishathesstaiwan.blogspot.com/

If so, why does nobody talk about this kind of bullshit (that she's making it out to be)? Are non-Hess schools less lovely?

No idea about any of that, but bear in mind that a) living abroad isn't for everyone and some people get loving lovely about it, b) some people aren't cut out to be teachers (myself included), and c) some people just like to piss and whine, especially on the Internet.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2012 17:16

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

OrangeGuy posted:

What about like buying a guitar, amp, computer parts to build a desktop PC, DSLR cameras, and the like? Having studied in a rural college town campus, I am just used to mainly relying on Amazon and NewEgg to deliver my crap to me.

That said, as long as I could at least buy these kinds of things in person (come on, it's Taipei), there's definitely no problem.

All that stuff's a piece of cake. Building a computer's dirt cheap here, cameras are all over the place, and there are a good number of music stores around that'll have what you need too. Dunno about prices on the guitar, amps, etc. though.

quote:

Oh, and yes, I definitely want to either bring an Amazon Kindle with me or buy one while I am in Taiwan. It's been on my wishlist for a while. There's a hell of a lot I've been wanting to read but been pushing off due to lack of time.

Buy one before leaving. I only managed to get mine because I found a dude on Yahoo Auctions who was importing batches of them and reselling them through his computer repair store away in an alley. You'll be fine buying books though - I've already bought like a dozen, no problems.

quote:

Also, I've studied Mandarin Chinese (Simplified, though) for three years and use Mandarin Pop-Up through Mozilla Firefox (really awesome and handy tool to use, by the way), so I can navigate a website like that given enough time.

The biggest thing for that site, if they haven't changed it already, is that if you're signing up as a foreigner, you'll need to use your passport number, not your ARC, because their system doesn't know poo poo for poo poo about ARC numbers. You might not be able to get to-your-door delivery, but you definitely can get orders delivered to the nearest 7-11 (where you can simultaneously pay for them and pick them up).

# ¿ Mar 8, 2012 17:35

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

eSKAObar posted:

I just got back from vacationing in Taipei and I've fallen in love with the indie music scene over there. Is there some sort of online resource for up and coming bands in Taiwan? I remember there was a chinese music megathread on NMD(?) before, but I think it's in archives by now.

The Chinese music thread on NMD sucked rear end and was solely interested in Carsick Cars.

IIRC there's a YouTube channel called TheNextBigThingTW that has a bunch of indie stuff on it, plus GigGuide.tw. Indievox might also be worth a look.

POCKET CHOMP posted:

If you're coming from an America (or a place where iTunes is a go) all the Apple stores will continue to work just fine with absolutely no trickery at all. Seriously, Apple gives no fucks at all and doesn't even do any IP geo-checking or anything as long as you have an American account and a way to pay for it. It owns.

True, I wasn't thinking about if you've already got an account. But if you try and set up a local one, all you'll get is apps, no music at all.

quote:

You can also get pretty much everything else to work with a VPN for about $5/month if you really want to. I use it to stream a bunch of sports stuff from back home, and also it works for Hulu and Netflix.

Man that is seriously tempting. Hadn't thought of trying that out actually.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2012 22:08

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

You say that like half of Taiwan doesn't just think "speaks English" is worthy of a gold star regardless of its relevance.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2012 10:30

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Christ, you must have some stories. I can only imagine the kind of poo poo that happens to them given the throngs of drooling, spotty perverts that congeal around them at every show.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2012 15:24

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

eSKAObar posted:

Hey, Carsick Cars does indeed own and without the thread I don't think I would have found about BOYZ & GIRL.

True, Carsick Cars are pretty good, but unless you were interested in post-rock - which I couldn't be much less interested in - there was nothing to be gained from that thread, at least at the point I bailed on it.

If you've got any particular favorite bands/singers, Facebook is actually a pretty good way to follow them and maybe find new ones.

Ravendas posted:

And the showgirls have to pander to them to get more jobs. More photographers on them = more interest by the vendors/companies after all...

My one friend basically said a few guys practically stalked her, going to every event she went to. They were all terribly goony from what I saw.

Goony would be a step up for a few of the ones I've seen at Computex, Taipei Game Show, and other nerd-focused ones I've been to. I'm pretty sure a good few of them would be actual rapists if they weren't too afraid to talk to a woman.

sub supau fucked around with this message at 10:25 on Mar 10, 2012

# ¿ Mar 10, 2012 10:21

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Hells yes 自由發揮. Their second album is pretty great too.

Man, I really need to get back into hitting live gigs again....

# ¿ Mar 10, 2012 15:31

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

As usual he has gently caress-all to say and a bunch of words to say it in.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2012 06:30

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

That's pretty much Friedman's gig - reporting the blindingly obvious with a dash of gee-whiz and trying to pretend he's insightful.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2012 12:03

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

poo poo, as a 5'9" 17-year-old I did that several times.

Also I'd say unless you really do have the money, don't get accommodation from that website. gently caress me is that some expensive living. NT$40,000 for a two-bedroom apartment? That better be loving nice, since it's a piece of piss to get a reasonably good two-bedroom apartment for half that.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2012 08:05

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

open24hours posted:

I was looking at the 18000( or a bit more for short term) ones, but I'm open to suggestions.

Do you know any Chinese? There are a bunch of Chinese-language sites that could provide pretty sweet accommodation for cheaper. Otherwise, unless you're really hung up on the whole having-a-sweet-apartment thing, why not hit a hostel or find a place that's OK with short-term stays on Tealit?

# ¿ Mar 14, 2012 08:28

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

That NZ one is for Taiwanese going to NZ, not the other way around. I don't think there's a NZ to Taiwan counterpart. Which'd make sense, 'cause I know most working holiday stuff in NZ is tourism-related or fruit-picking, but I can't imagine what some random Kiwi kid who speaks no Chinese is going to do short-term here.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2012 11:11

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

DontAskKant posted:

Do expats actually have roommates in Taiwan? That terrifies me. Of course I have had some pretty crazy roommates as those are the people attracted to the cheap places I could afford.

Yep. Eight years and counting, never had a place here without at least one roommate, and two or three for most of it.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2012 19:20

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

As far as I'm aware, you only need a full FBI background check for getting permanent residency. I don't know about Americans, but I know as a New Zealander I've never had to produce a criminal background check for a normal ARC.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2012 20:52

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Wait people actually get paid time off here?

# ¿ Mar 30, 2012 11:34

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

lookat that smug fukken duck

# ¿ Mar 30, 2012 11:53

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

thegoat posted:

Any teacher with experience shouldn't have any trouble with that.

You're assuming the school actually gives a gently caress if their kids learn rather than just if they re-enrol.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2012 06:53

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

HappyHelmet posted:

I figured it would be something like that. My brief searching into the matter basically tells me its something like: hire lawyer-> sign documents-> kiss a poo poo load of money goodbye-> pray your business doesn't immediately fold

You forgot the step between the money and the praying, kiss a whole lot of bureaucratic rear end.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2012 05:07

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

dtb posted:

1) Housing
Any good English language sites for housing? Ideally furnished/serviced.

The go-to is Tealit.com, but if you're only short-terming, I don't know.

quote:

Also, what is the CBD area called in Taipei and would that be a good place to live? Is there an area close where most people that work in the area live?

Arguably the CBD is either Xinyi District or East District, but Taipei doesn't really have a CBD in the usual sense. It's basically just one big sprawling CBD. The public transportation system is good enough that you can basically live anywhere in the city and you'll be find to get to work relatively quickly. If you know where you're going, you can pretty much get anywhere in the city in about a half-hour.

quote:

2) Visa
While at first I would just be on a business trip so a regular entry stamp will likely do, if I do decide to stay beyond that time I will need a visa of some sorts. Can I self sponsor myself based on my employment contract/income from HQ or do I need to set up a branch/local company?

No, you need a local employer to sponsor you. Depending where you're from, you can probably get a visitor visa good for (IIRC) two months anyway without that.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2012 09:35

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Nah, the glass height thing is totally a thing. It isn't even Taiwan specific - they do it in HK too. Dunno about the mainland though. It's not really something I think many people are conscious of, but it's definitely a thing. If you're just out drinking with the boys/girls/whatever, though, no-one really gives a poo poo. It mostly comes into play in situations where face is an issue.

And on the "competing for the lower position" thing, in my experience it's been the person who first raises their glass in any particular instance that gets the top position where there's no clear/relevant hierarchy in place.

sub supau fucked around with this message at 14:47 on Apr 15, 2012

# ¿ Apr 15, 2012 14:44

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Does it actually have to be a four-year degree, or just a baccalaureate? Because those two things are not necessarily the same thing.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2012 05:28

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

duckfarts posted:

FYI: That's kinda high priced, probably from being in a convenient location or having good service or quality; standard is something like 150ish(see most food courts), night markets sometimes have 120 or 100NT ones, includes fill it yourself tea if you like that kind of thing.

Yeah, there's a place down by Jingmei night market that does hell cheap teppanyaki, and it's really nice too.

Ravendas posted:

My wife's coworkers eat lunchboxes twice a day, every day, forever. When we told them we went to Tasty the other day (500nt/person, steak + a ton of courses place), they just divided it out and said "That's like the cost of 8 meals for each of us!!! Why would you ever do that!!!"

And fair enough, too, given what wages here are like. Personally I've already had enough biandang for a lifetime, but I can fully understand why people would eat sod-all else but them.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2012 07:12

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

It's like a slightly higher-end Noble. The one down on Chongqing is alright too. Nothing outstanding, and for the price it could and should be better, but it's not that bad.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2012 07:34

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

PaoFerro posted:

I'd be travelling with my girlfriend, we're happy to eat cheap and off the street but we'd like to stay in accommodation that is half decent. Happy with double rooms in hostels or good value 3-4 star hotels or guesthouses. Just don't want to sleep in dorm beds. We aren't big drinkers or into crazy nights out, nor do we want to shop. How much would we be likely to spend in two weeks there? If someone could tell me some sort of daily budget (per person) for us considering we'd be sharing some costs.

I don't know if guesthouses'll work so much with the whole not-speaking-Mandarin thing, but either way you could probably expect to spend AU$35 upward a night for good accommodation. You can get cheaper, and it's not always bad, but it's a gamble. A decent Western feed'll set you back anything from about AU$15 up per person, but if you're OK with going cheap, you could easily get by on AU$10 per person per day foodwise. For reference, a meal at McD's is about AU$5, but a boxed lunch (like a Japanese bento - rice, meat, some veg) goes for around AU$2+. Transportation I can't really speak to - reckon you'd be hiring a scooter or just getting around by train and bus?

quote:

Just asking because I know nobody who's been there and there's not many world famous areas or landmarks that stick out in my head when I picture Taiwan.

There really aren't any world-famous areas or landmarks in Taiwan, because Taiwan's tourism bureau are loving incompetent. One idea for a look around would be jumping on Google Street View though - most of the place is on there. I've been told Kenting, down at the south end, is very Southeast Asian feeling, and I know that Taipei is definitely way more comfortable and way less chaotic than HK, at least.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2012 08:48

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Haraksha posted:

Money question. I have a friend of a friend who wants someone to look at a college essay. It's 15,000 words. How much would you charge to correct just the grammar and the fluency?

I usually charge NT$800 an hour for proofing, and most of the proofing work I do is academic stuff (papers for publication, abstracts, etc.)

USDA Choice posted:

Totally unrelated: 15,000 words just to get into a school? Will admissions counselors even read that?

Depends on the program and the paper. If they're asking for a writing sample and it's a hell of scientific type of program, I could see that. Most UK programs, in my experience at least, don't ask for essays in the American style, so I can only imagine it's proper academic stuff.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2012 15:35

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Magna Kaser posted:

edit: Looked around online and it looks like iPhone4S in Taiwan is between like 20000-21000NTD, which is like 680-700ish USD.

Pretty sure those prices are what I've seen for specifically US iPhone 4S'. Honestly I don't even know if there is a local version yet.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2012 16:18

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

No, you can totally get prepaid deals, you just have to buy the phone outright at retail. Contracts get you a pretty sweet deal usually though.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2012 16:53

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

As long as I remember to turn the 3G data off when I'm not using it, I can get by for like a month on NT$1000.

e: And of course remember to use wifi where possible.

sub supau fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Apr 25, 2012

# ¿ Apr 25, 2012 17:00

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Magna Kaser posted:

Ah, I misread his post.

On that note, I might be coming to Taiwan for like a month or however long I can stay without a visa this fall. How hard would it be for me to find an apartment short-term in Taibei or Gaoxiong?

Shouldn't be too hard, depending of course on how much you've got to spend. There's a good chance you'll be able to find something on 591 or TWHouses.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2012 17:33

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

drat dude I don't know anyone who's been so fixated on getting all the details before arriving in Taiwan. poo poo, when I decided to move here I couldn't even place Taiwan on a map. I honestly thought it was what is actually Hainan.

# ¿ Apr 28, 2012 09:09

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Someone has to set the bar, and by setting it nice and low I help other people feel more accomplished.

# ¿ Apr 28, 2012 10:36

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

OrangeGuy posted:

Sorry about that, I'm just a little excited (more like really excited) and thrilled about going and can't really wait. Plus, it's my first time doing this kind of thing (i.e. going abroad to support myself financially and to live totally independently there), so it can be a little intimidating. I can pull back on the posting about it, though.

Haha, nah, it's cool, it's just kind of amazing considering both my own ignorance and the number of people I've met over the years who roll up here giving no shits about the place and just seeing it as a chance to get drunk and bang Asian girls. You're on some next-level poo poo, and I think it's great that you're so keen to make sure everything goes well and you're able to have a good time once you get here.

# ¿ Apr 28, 2012 22:39

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

B-Rad posted:

对不对？

反共復國，人人有責，消滅共匪，捨我其誰！

sub supau fucked around with this message at 17:52 on May 1, 2012

# ¿ May 1, 2012 17:20

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

RocknRollaAyatollah posted:

Taiwan should adopt pinyin on the principle that the guy who made it, Zhou Youguang, is a huge critic of China and an 106 year old badass.

Hanyu Pinyin has been the official romanization system in Taiwan since, IIRC, late 2009. Unfortunately, being the Taiwanese government, there was no way they would be so presumptuous as to actually tell anyone what to do, so they made it "official", but let each of the counties and municipalities decide individually what they want to use. Hence, exactly gently caress and all have changed.

# ¿ May 2, 2012 20:28

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

HappyHelmet posted:

The best is when road signs randomly change between the different pinyin systems. I've gotten used to it now, but before it was all pretty

I got here a little too late for it, but I've heard stories from some of the long-termers of places like one corner on Jianguo South Road where Jianguo was spelled two different ways on the same signpost depending whether you were looking at the northward or southward sign.

# ¿ May 3, 2012 06:44

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 22:29

sub supau: Aug 28, 2007

Haraksha posted:

The wiki has a reasonable if annoying explanation. I wasn't aware that the name was officially switched over last year, but I kept reading your post and trying to figure out what there would be a "Tam" in a Chinese name. Tam isn't a possible Chinese syllable.

Turns out, Tam isn't even Chinese. It's Taiwanese. The official government of the area has referred to itself as Tamsui for years, and so they decided to make it standard regardless of language.

It makes perfect sense to call it that, but if you read the Chinese characters, it's going to have a different pronunciation.

If you read them in Mandarin, sure.

But yeah, it was switched over late last year IIRC, along with Lugang becoming Lukang for even less reason. Honestly I'm not even sure where I stand on Tamsui; it's dumb because very few of the people who need the romanization would even realize it's Taiwanese and not Mandarin, and because the change was 100% arbitrary, but it'd also be hypocritical of me to call them on that and still be an advocate of just giving the obviously Aboriginal placenames their actual Aboriginal names back.

# ¿ May 4, 2012 07:01

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